Jiki, Karma, and Fender
Jiki came into our lives on September 9, 2008 thanks to the Golden Retriever Club Rescue of Greater Los Angeles. He was found wandering around the Inland Empire (San Bernardino or Riverside County) and spent a month in a public shelter. In those lean economic times, many people were losing their homes, especially in those counties, and some of them just turned their pets loose if they couldn't afford to care for them or find a place to live where they can bring them along, rather than turn them in to a shelter or rescue organization. The people at GRCGLA dubbed him "Arjiki" when they rescued him from the animal regulation facility.
The day before we were interviewed for suitability as dog owners, (Ar)Jiki was transported to a foster home at Point Mugu Naval Air Station. Now, ordinary people can't just drive onto a military base, but we can because I am retired military and I have the proper sticker on my car windshield. It was almost as if he was pre-positioned for us before anybody even knew we would get him.
The GRCGLA website has a page with photos and background of all available dogs, so we were fairly familiar with what was available before the interview. When Eva, the interviewer mentioned having just brought (Ar)Jiki up from the shelter, we expressed an interest in him, so the next day she mentioned it to the lady who is in charge of rescues for the club. Apparently the lady immediately called us.
She asked if we would like to get in contact with his foster-mom, Alli. We ended up going to Pt Mugu and bringing him home that evening. Eva told us later that it never happens that fast.
It turns out that he is a great dog with high intelligence, high energy, and a goofy personality. The evening he walked into our home, the whole atmosphere changed for the better. He does have some phobias, but nothing terrible. (He hates having his picture taken) He's around two years old (as of December, 2008). It takes Goldens about three years to mature, and sometimes they skip adulthood and stay adolescent until they become seniors. So far, he remains a little overly enthusiastic about meeting people. He will calm down someday... maybe.
He was very toy-possesive, which means when we took him in for boarding, he had to be watched so that he didin't fight over his toys. He wasn't defensive over his food with us, but let another dog show any interest in his food dish... With one exception.
Goldie was a senior dog with cancer. Jiki sensed something about her and from her very first day, he only ate half of his food and left the rest for her.
Our thanks go out to Rhonda and Fran of J9's K9s Dog Training for getting us on our way as trainers. We look forward to more training time and hope to eventually have him "working" as a therapy dog for hospital patients.
We were sure happy!
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In September of 2017 we began a move from Southern California to the Puget Sound area of Washington State.
Just as we were starting to pack up, the deal on the house in Washington fell through. There was already a buyer for our house, so we had to pack out. Katie and the three dogs moved to our place in the mountains and Jan and I drove up to Washington to find a place to move to.
While in the mountains, Jiki started having Grand Mal seizures. I have had Golden Retrievers in the past and seizures, while infrequent, were not uncommon. But Jiki continued to have more. We talked to his vet and she recommended that he be taken to the nearest animal hospital (which wasn't all that close). She warned us that seizures in dogs his age are often indicative of a brain tumor.
The vet office he was taken to got him stabilized and prescribed some anti-seizure medication. They also told us he likely had a tumor.
He continued to have periodic seizures. Every time he did, he had to be hospitalized so they could break the string of episodes and modify his medications. Every time the meds made him dopey and barely functional for several weeks until he adjusted to them. At one point he went more than 6 months without a seizure, although it required medications at all hours. He learned to recognize the alarms on our phones that alerted us that it was time for meds. He loved the Kraft American Cheese his pills were wrapped in. Fender loved it, too. We couldn't give cheese to one and not the other, right?
By July of 2018 Jiki was on three medications. One of them was Phenobarbital, a pretty powerful drug. One side-effect of the drug is some problems controlling the hind legs. He tripped easily and slipped on our hardwood floors. Still, he continued to get better, but nowhere near where he was before it all started.
In early August, he started rapidly slipping downhill. It was very difficult for him to get around and his vision seemed to be failing. He would walk in to slightly narrow places and be unable to turn around, both because of his hind legs and his limited eyesight.
We would have spent any amount of money to keep him going if he could have a reasonable quality of life, but that was no longer possible for him. On August 11, 2018, we let him go home.
For ten years Jiki brought us happiness, laughter, frustration, and tears. Part of the frustration was that he never grew up. Part of the happiness was that he never grew up. He was a very special dog with eyes that seemed to look into your heart. (I know... everybody thinks their dog is special, and they are.)
We will miss him for a very long time.
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| This is my sister Katie | Bears don't scare me none | How to look pathetic |
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How to look patheticer. |
My "Champion Look" | My winning smile |
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| Every dog should have a hand growing from it's head | Pet me... pleeeze | Hand sandwich... yum! |
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| My sister, me, and my friend Josephine. She's from Denmark, wherever that is. | A good begging technique. Try it! | I LIKE Christmas! |
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| Fender, Karma, and Jiki. | Contemplation... | Jiki and Karma |
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| Still Smilin'. | Still enjoyin' those walks | All dogs go to heaven! |
In December of 2009 we got another dog. We had been thinking about this for some time. We had decided to get an older dog because they are harder to adopt out. People don't want to get a dog who is going to up and die on them in a couple of years. Can't blame them, really. But older dogs need a happy home, too. We know it's going to be hard on us to lose a part of the family, but it's not just about our happiness.
Goldie is about ten years of age. (No, we didn't name her. We couldn't have come up with a name that clever.) Supposedly she was turned over to the club by a service member about to be deployed. She was apparently an outside dog and probably neglected. She came to the club with a huge tumor hanging down from her underside. How could that have gone unnoticed? The club had the tumor removed. It was found to be cancerous. The club's vet got as much of the cancer as he could but couldn't be sure he got it all. The club put her up for a "permanent foster home", which means that they would pay all medical expenses.
We chose to adopt her outright. One of our closest friends is also our vet, (she was our friend before she was our vet, by the way) so we knew Goldie would get great care at minimal expense. This would allow the club to use the money for other dogs.
A few days after we brought her home, our vet found some more small tumors, so the cancer was already spreading. Because they were in such a sensitive area, surgery and recovery would be a very painful process and probably wouldn't prolong her life, so we decided that she had already suffered enough, no sense in putting her through more. Her remaining life would be measured in months.
After a month, she was doing great. She was happy, playful, and loving. She liked to steal socks and underwear. We have a travel crate in the house and she decided to make her bed in it. She would gather up any shoes she found on the floor and line them up neatly in front of her crate. She and Jiki played like puppies during that time.
We knew we were giving her the happy home she didn't have before and that our vet wouldn't let her suffer at the end.
March 23 2010
Goldie had begun limping a little. It appeared to be a little arthritis and was treated as such. She remained just as active as ever, although she soon gave up rolling around on the floor with Jiki, and ate her food (and Jiki's, if he didn't finish everything) with gusto.
But the limping continued to get worse. Her vet determined that the small lumps on her abdomen hadn't increased in size but a large mass was found under her foreleg, where we might call the armpit. Her feeding remained good and she was getting around as best she could including helping Jiki chase squirrels around the yard and barking at other dogs from behind our screen door.
But the mass was growing fast. One morning she was unable or unwilling to leave her bed to eat which, for her, is a very bad sign.
Fortunately, by early afternoon she was out of bed and eating just the way she always has. She even chased a ball across the yard. Her vet looked her over and although there didn't seem to be any pain, we probably would only have her for a few more days.
March 26 2010
We let Goldie go home today. At our house, surrounded by her family, her vet who knew her and loved her as much as we did, and the tech she brought along who came to love her after just a few minutes; she drifted peacefully away.
Losing Goldie was extremely difficult. We knew she was advanced in age. We knew she had cancer and the prognosis was not good. We knew our time with her would be limited. We didn't know how attached to her we would become in so short a time.
I can't say that we will never again adopt an older or a sick dog. They deserve peaceful days with a loving family. It will take a long time to forget the pain we felt when Goldie had to go. But we know that she felt secure and loved.
It's somebody else's turn to take a senior dog.
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| Sad | Happy | Just scopin' the parking lot |
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| Cruisin' with my bud, Jiki | Good to have friends |
In early February 2011, a new dog joined us from the Golden Retriever Club of Greater Los Angeles Rescue's Project Taiwan.
In Taiwan, Golden Retriever puppies became very popular. The little guys are hard to resist. Unfortunately, apartments in Taiwan tend to be kinda small by our standards. As a consequence, those adorable little puppies soon grow into a large problem. All dogs require attention in order for them to become part of the family. A dog that is not well-trained quickly becomes unwelcome. A large untrained dog becomes a real problem.
The local rescue organization was unable to handle the number of dogs that were being set loose and they asked the Golden Retriever Club of Greater Los Angeles for help. As usual, the club rescue came through.
Formerly known as Milo, he is now named Fender. My daughter and I both have Fender guitars. He's her dog, she gets to name him.
I suspect this little guy was tied out on a balcony or something once he became too big to keep inside. He is clingy and very food-focused. However, he is not aggressive about his food dish. But he does get underfoot and sticks close to whoever has (or might be getting) any kind of food. Or he'll just help himself.
Fender has turned out to be a really sweet soul of a dog. A mellow dog with a very loud bark. His breath no longer stinks like it did when we got him... usually.
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| Ah... Home at last! | We smart! | Concentrate... Concentrate... |
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| I really hate showoffs. | This is how you get free cheese in this joint. | Pathetic2 |
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| Help! They're out of cheeeez! | I noble! | I attentive! |
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| I pathetic! | Does this ball make me look smart? | Good food, good grooming, good livin'...Good fur! |
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| Good morning... I think. |
Fender survived Jiki by about ten months. As expected for a dog his age, especially a large dog, he slowed down considerably. Fender and Jiki used to play like puppies right up to the last month or so of Jiki's life. But after that, Fender began to slow down.
He was still extremely food-motivated, making sure he was underfoot whenever food was around. One never knows when something good might fall on the floor.
In the early spring of 2019, Fender came down with what the vet called "vestibular disease". Our long-time California Vet called it "Old Dog Vertigo". He was dizzy to the point that he had trouble standing up. He had trouble keeping food down (the equvalent of motion sickness), and he held his head at a constant tilt. We were told that he may or may not get over it. He got better, but not completely free of the dizzyness. He held his head at a tilt, which was endearing when he looked at you if you didn't know what it was. His apetite returned.
But while he was recovering from the vertigo, one pad on his left-rear paw started looking strange and it eventually split open. So that had to be stitched and looked after for a couple of weeks.
We have a fairly steep driveway and next door is a forested lot. We frequently take our dogs to the shoulder of that lot to relieve themselves. (We always clean up after them.) We can get an idea of how a dog is feeling by whether is wants to climb up the driveway or not. While Fender was at his sickest, he couldn't make up the driveway. Eventually, he wanted to go up there every day. Sometimes walking back down was a little challenging as he was liable to fall over.
On Jun 28, 2019, Fender ate is usual morning kibble with his usual gusto and walked effortlessly up the driveway and back again. Unusally, he didn't go drink water which he usually does after eating. He just flopped down on the floor and went to sleep. His breathing became labored and he had a couple of small seizures. We rushed him to our vet where within a couple of minutes he stopped breathing and died.
It was a peaceful ending for a peaceful dog. He went from being unwanted in Taiwan to being deeply loved in the U.S. We miss him already.
Recently a friend of ours was moving and couldn't take her dog with her. Since she knew we were suckers for Golden Retrievers, she offered it to us. Since she was right, we are suckers, we took it right in.
Karma is a female, just about the same age as our others. We took her in, got her "fixed up" like the boys, and after some minor dominance issues with Jiki, she fits right in.
She enjoys "puppy fighting" with Jiki. Jiki is very gentle with her. When Jiki and Fender start tussling, she starts barking and jumps in... and immediately jumps out. She also has a very fierce-sounding growl during those times. But it's all play, fortunately.
We have found that two dogs is about 25% more trouble than one dog, but three dogs is twice the trouble as two dogs... especially when they are all larger dogs.
Talk about dogs underfoot! When we went to our place in the mountains I could pack cargo in the cargo area of our Jeep Cherokee and put Jiki and Fender in the back seat. Three dogs in the back seat is going to be a mite... cozy.
Unfortunately, Karma and Jiki didn't get along very well. Fights were frequent and they were hurting each other. She was still young while Jiki was getting on in years, which would make him less-desireable for adoption. We found a new home for Karma and peace returned to the house.
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| I think I'm gonna like it here | Queen of the flowerbed | This is MY spot! |
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| Don't know what this roll of skin is for... Must be some kind of ancient scroll! | Just a little suggestion... | C'mon, mean ol' bird. Just try it! |
Rigby is a Miniature American Shepherd. She was born July 8, 2018.
After having only Golden Retrievers for over ten years, it became evident that we were getting too old for dogs that size. It was getting difficult to lift a big dog if it needed help getting into our car.
Miniature American Shepherds were bred from the Australian Shepherd, so they are also known as Miniature Australian Shepherds. The American Kennel Club (AKC) name is Miniature American Shepherd because they were first noticed working Rodeos and were bred for even smaller size in the United States. They have only been considered a separate breed since the early 2000's. In 2010 AKC put them into the herding group.
She looks cute and cuddly, and she is... but she doesn't like that kind of stuff. She wants to be running around, getting into mischief and playing with Fender. Like most puppies, she likes to nip. Being a herding dog, nipping is more instinctual. Having puppy teeth, it hurts when she nips your fingers, often drawing blood. They're smart dogs, though, and she will learn not to do that.
The AKC warns that families with children may find these dogs herding your kids. It's instinct.
About 10 weeks old.
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| With one of her humans | Trying to look innocent | Trying to look cute |
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| Woof! | A rare quiet moment. |
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| About 12 weeks old | About 13 weeks old | About 13 weeks old |
About 16 weeks old
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| Likes pullin' weeds | Full speed ahead | About 17 weeks old |
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| We share stuff |
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| At about 7 months | First Snowstorm | Loving it |
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| About 8 months old |
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Watch for more photos in the future.
Check out the GRCGLA website and look at the wonderful dogs they have looking for a family. But if the thought of these animals being left behind or abandoned makes you cry, don't blame me.
